We’re sending out this update for a couple of reasons.

First, a big thanks to everyone who helped keep the garden picked last week while we were out of town.  It was a tremendous help!

Second, our first open house/garden tour was a great success.  We hope everyone who came enjoyed it.  We weren’t expecting folks to help with the harvest at the open house, but they did.  And a lot, especially with the beans!  Thanks to the everyone’s hard work, we were able to donate 70 pounds of green beans to the OUR Center last week.  Thank you so much!

And finally, because the Tomatoes are in!  We picked some last night, and they’re looking good.  Here’s a sampling of the harvest:

The dark ones are a beefsteak heirloom called Cherokee Purple.  They are close to a pound each, and have a rich, full flavor.  The large red ones are also an heirloom beefsteak called Tiffen Mennonite.  Their flavor is very similar to the classic Brandywine.  The small red ones are a hybrid variety called Oregon Spring.  They are great for salads because of their smaller size.

There are a few other new additions to the list (most notably Cucumbers and Spinach), so here’s a list of the other crops available this week:

Beets – Dark red and candy stripe (an Italian heirloom called Chioggia).  The darks reds have a classic beet taste, while the Chioggias are milder and don’t bleed as much.

Cucumbers – Two kinds of slicers, one with a classic cuke flavor (Marketmore).  Divas, an All America Selection, are very thin-skinned (no peeling necessary), and burpless (no seeds).

Carrots – Crisp and sweet.

Green Beans – The heirloom pole beans, called Kentucky Wonder, are now producing.  Very full-flavored.

Mesclun – An all-lettuce mix of several varieties, cut while the leaves are bite-sized.

Peppers – Green and purple bells.  The purple ones, called Islander, are purple outside with white flesh inside.  They retain their color when cooked, and are sweeter than the greens.

Radishes – Two kinds: classic red and milder red and white, called French Breakfast.  They’re both pretty zingy right now because of the hot weather we’ve had.

Salad Turnips – A Japanese variety called Hakurei.  Very crisp and sweet, they can be eaten raw or lightly steamed or sautéed.  The greens are also edible and are very nutritious.

Scallions – Also called green or spring onions, these are true scallions, meaning they won’t bulb up.

Spinach – The first of the fall crop has matured.

Swiss Chard – We grow the rainbow variety called Bright Lights.

Yellow Squash and Zucchini - We try to pick them while they’re still small, tender, and sweet.

Finally, we have some Head Lettuce, packaged as a “Do-It-Yourself Mesclun”, meaning we include three or four heads of different lettuce varieties in a bag that you can cut and assemble into a salad.  Included is a butterhead, a speckled romaine, a red leaf, and possibly a green romaine:

Just a reminder: orders are due by 11:00 tonight for pick-up either tomorrow evening or Saturday morning.

Thanks!